


Feels Like Coming Home

by 42hrb



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Chirping, Chirping is flirting, Coach Dex, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon, Professor Nursey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 17:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14982263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/42hrb/pseuds/42hrb
Summary: Ten years might feel like a long time, but somehow Nursey feels like no time has past since the last time he lived in the same place as Will Poindexter.





	Feels Like Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> Listen... I really have NO IDEA where this came from, but here it is. 
> 
> As always, a huge thanks to [Meg](leslieknopeismyshiningstar.tumblr.com) for being the best cheerleader and enabler that a girl could ask for. You're the real MVP.

Samwell looked more or less the same. Nursey wasn’t sure why he thought it would look different, maybe it was because he was different now; ten years can really change a person.

He huffed out a laugh when he walked passed the Haus; it was kind of surprising that it was still standing. Back when he lived there you could literally _feel_ the house shake when someone was having sex, so the fact that it had lasted another decade only confirmed that there was some sort of magic keeping it up.

Being back on campus brough Derek back, the smell of summer in the air reminded him of early morning walks to Faber with Dex and Chowder before the semester started. The group of students sitting under a tree took him back to all the times he had done that, different members of the team joining him. It was a bit like walking through a memory, the only thing that was different was that this time he didn’t have Dex or Chowder or Bitty or Tango or Ford walking with him.

The English Department hadn’t changed a bit, Miss Sherry still sat at the desk when you walked in the door, her ever present smile brightening up the room. It still had the same cream walls and scuffed hardwood floors, it still smelled like old books, it still felt like home.

“Well if it isn’t Dr. Nurse,” She stood up and gave Nursey a hug, “Dr. Yang was excited that you were the one they ended up hiring to replace her.”

“I still can’t believe she retired, I figured she’s lecture until she was 90,” Derek shook his head, “But I’m glad to be back.”

After a reunion tour of the office that lasted a solid hour and a half. Sherry showed him to his little office in the corner of the suite. He had already posted his syllabi online for his students and had the semester mapped out for both of his sections of ENG101 and his one section of ENG104 Intro to Poetry, so he didn’t really need to hang out in the office.

He was excited to start classes in two weeks. He was even more excited to be back at Samwell to teach; some of the best years of his life had been spent at Samwell and though he tried to live his life with the ‘make your next years your best years’, it was easier to feel happy when he felt like he was at home.

After graduating from Samwell he had moved to North Carolina to attend Duke’s English PhD program. After six years he had his doctorate and a job at Kansas State as an adjunct professor that he had gladly taken.

It wasn’t that Kansas State was a bad school, it was a great school, but Derek had been completely overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place, and the lack of anything else around it. That and the fact that pretty much everyone he knew and loved lived in a four hours radius along the east coast had prompted him to start looking for job a little closer to home.

So now he was back at Samwell. It was a good fit for him, the department was smaller, the class sizes were smaller, and now he was close enough to New York to make a day trip back to see his moms and his dad. It didn’t hurt that Jack had also returned to Samwell last year to coach the hockey team and Bitty filmed his show in he and Jacks’ house.

Top it all off with the fact that Shitty, Holster, Ransom, and Lardo were all living in Boston, a 50-minute train ride away and Chowder was in New York playing for the Rangers. Everything had fallen into place and Derek was itching to get started.

Tango, Whiskey, and Ford were all further away, but they kept in touch with Nursey and the rest of the team. Tango was currently the captain of the Oilers and Whiskey had an A in L.A.  Since Jack’s tenure at Samwell at least one member of the team had gone pro every year, save Ransom and Holster’s class.

Hell, Dex was probably the biggest success story behind Jack. He had signed with the Schooners after graduating and they went to four Stanley Cup’s in ten seasons. They only won twice, but still it was an impressive feat. Last Derek had heard from Dex about his plans post-NHL, he was planning on retiring to a tiny house in Maine.

Out of all of his former teammates he saw Dex the least, but talked to him the most. They FaceTimed, they texted, they did everything except see each other in person. Derek understood though, he had been in _Kansas_ and Dex in Seattle, almost every time Nursey came back to the East Coast to visit, Dex had been on the opposite side of the country.

He was wrapped up in his thoughts as he walked to Jack and Bitty’s for dinner, he still didn’t really have anything at his apartment except his mattress, he needed to get food, he needed to call his publisher about his latest collection of poems. He was planning on dragging Farmer to Ikea with him next weekend while Chowder did a camp with little kids for the Junior Rangers.

“Jack has news,” Bitty’s face betrayed nothing as he ushered Derek into the kitchen, “Jack tell him your news.”

“We’re having an alumni charity game,” Jack grinned. He had retired from the Falcs after twelve seasons, four Cups, and four Hart Award winning seasons. Derek had a feeling Jack could have played a few more seasons, but he and Bitty had just adopted a little girl and Jack had found a second thing he loved more than playing hockey.

“Sweet,” Nursey accepted the beer that Bitty offered him, “Sign me up.”

“That’s not the news I was talking about sweetie.”

“Oh, I finally hired my assistant coach,” Jack had been on the hunt for a good assistant since his had accepted a job at UConn after last season, “It’s going to be great.”

“Tell him _who_ ,” Bitty rolled his eyes fondly at Jack before scooping up Leah from where she had been pulling on his shorts, “Hi pumpkin.”

“It’s Will,” Jack had a sappy look on is face as he watched Bitty and Leah, “He’s doing really well so far.”

“Will as is Will Poindexter?”

“Yeah.”

Nursey leaned against the counter and took a sip of his drink. So Dex was working at Samwell. Will knew that Derek had taken a job at Samwell and didn’t tell him that he was also _working at Samwell_. What the fuck.

The rest of dinner passed like Derek assumed these dinners usually would. Bitty talked about his show and a new recipe he was trying, Jack talked about the team, they both talked about Leah, and they asked Derek all about his new job. By the time he left at 8:30 he was feeling a little better about the whole ‘Dex not telling him’ thing; he was just kind of sad.

“Nursey!” Chowder was always excited to hear from him, then again Chowder was probably always excited to hear from anyone, “How was your first official day? How’s Samwell? How are Jack and Bitty?”

“It was good, man,” Derek walked toward Stop and Shop, he needed to at least get eggs and bread to get though the next couple days, “Samwell’s the same, it’s actually kind of creepy how nothing has changed. I fucking love it.”

Stop and Shop wasn’t busy, which made sense, the only people on campus now were some sports teams and students who were wrapping up the last summer session. One day Derek would venture to the Whole Foods a little further from campus like most of the actual adults living in town, but that day was not today. Chowder chatted his ear off while Derek grabbed the stuff he needed, “I can’t wait to visit you! We can go by the Haus and crash a Kegster.”

Nursey snorted, “I don’t think I can crash a Kegster dude, I’m a professor now.”

“Oh, right,” He could almost see Chowder’s disappointed face, “Well we can throw our own!”

He turned down the bread aisle and almost dropped his basket, William Poindexter stood in all his glory comparing two whole wheat breads, a Samwell hat on his head, clashing beautifully with his hair, “Hey C, I gotta go.”

“Okay! Love you!”

“Love you too,” Nursey hung up and slipped his phone into his pocket. He allowed himself 5 seconds to look at Dex, he looked good, great actually.

Where Derek had lost some muscle mass after graduation, Dex had put some on. It made sense, Derek played beer league hockey once a week, Dex played for millions of dollars a year and had an Olympic gold medal. The last time Nursey had seen Dex was almost a year ago at Chowder and Farmer’s second kids baptism and he had looked great then, but now, in his joggers and tank top, he looked amazing.

“I’d get that one.”

Dex jumped, pulling out his earbud, “What the fuck, Nursey?”

“Well hey Poindexter, fancy seeing you here,” Nursey laughed, stepping closer and opening his arms for a hug, but waited for Dex to close the gap, “You _asshole_.”

“I -,” Dex sighed, pulling Nurse into a hug, “I was going to tell you, it all happened kind of fast.”

“Jack seems excited about you,” Nursey pulled back putting his hands on Dex’s shoulders so he could get a good look at him, “I can’t believe I had to hear that you’re back at Samwell from Jack, bro I thought we were closer than that.”

“It was a spur of the moment decision,” Dex didn’t duck out of Derek’s touch, which he took as a good sign, “You know I can’t say no to Jack.”

“Of course you can’t, he’s Jack fucking Zimmermann,” Derek let go of Dex’s shoulders, “Why didn’t you tell me though dude?”

Dex shrugged, “I wasn’t sure how.”

“Hey Nursey, I know you took that job at Samwell and funny story I did too. Or maybe hey Derek, it’s been a minute since I saw you, but we’re both going to be working at Samwell,” Nursey started and Dex shook his head with a laugh, “I’m just saying, it would have been fucking awesome to know you were coming here.”

“When you put it that way it sounds easy,” Dex kept laughing, slinging an arm around Derek’s shoulder like they were 22 and no time had passed.

“I’ve always been the smart one,” Nursey reminded him. That wasn’t really true, they were both smart in different ways, they had both graduated from Samwell with 3.9 GPAs, they had both been Academic All-Americans.

“True,” Dex ran a hand through his hair and looked back at the bread, “I do actually need to grocery shop. Bitty made me promise I’d stop eating pizza and Chinese takeout or he’d stop letting me come to Sunday brunch.”

“Oh that’s a real threat,” Nursey laughed, “Well, let’s finish buying groceries and then you can tell me all about how great it is to be Jack’s assistant.”

Derek didn’t expect Will to go along with him, he figured he’d make up some excuse about having to be up early and they’d go their separate ways, but Will Poindexter was always surprising him, even after almost 15 years of knowing each other.

“Gonna walk me home,” Derek bumped his shoulder against Will’s as they walked out of the store.

“Fuck you Nursey,” but he laughed, “Why don’t you walk me home, I bet I have more furniture than you and I’ve got a few beers that I don’t want to drink alone.”

“Trying to get me onto your couch, huh Poindexter,” Derek’s stomach fluttered and he stuffed his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t do something stupid with them, like touch Will. It was been years since they saw each other for more than a few days, and even longer since they saw each other without the buffer of their other friends, he didn’t want to overwhelm him.

But, Dex seemed calmer now, less like a rubber band pulled taught, likely to snap at the slightest pressure, and more like, well like a person. While Derek’s hands remained firmly tucked into his pockets, Dex’s found its way to Derek’s head, ruffling his hair.

“Rude bro,” Nursey laughed, turning up Oak Street with Dex. They were heading in the direction of Nursey’s rented loft apartment too, which made Derek feel a warm all over, knowing they lived at least in the same direction, that they had both thought it was a good place to live.

“Aren’t you a doctor now, is bro appropriate for a doctor?”

“Fu-uck you,” Derek laughed, “Bro is always appropriate.”

“Whatever you say Dr. Nurse,” Dex’s eyes crinkled when he smiled, “I can’t believe they let you shape the minds of America’s youth, I remember when you and Bitty used to get absolutely wasted and dance to Beyonce on tables.”

“First of all,” Nursey pointed at Dex, “ _Someone_ was supposed to be on Nursey Patrol that night and got distracted by beer pong.”

Dex laughed, putting his hands up, “Okay, fair point. Second of all?”

“Second of all, the best kind of teachers have _lived_ Poindexter,” Derek grinned, “It’s like you have no memory of _Dead Poets Society._ ”

“Are you comparing yourself to the late, great, Robin Williams?” Will jumped onto a bench as they walked through the one street that made up downtown, “Oh Captain, my Captain!”

“Fuck you,” Derek laughed as Dex jumped down, “I’m just saying, I’m not boring now just people I’m a professor.”

“You could never be boring,” Will’s house was a street over from Derek’s loft, it was small and charming, the exact kind of house he could see Will living in, puttering around in the morning and fixing up on the weekends.

“Nice place.”

“I’m working on it,” Will shrugged, but he was blushing, “I lucked out honestly, it went on the market the day Jack offered me the job.”

“That is lucky,” Derek bumped his shoulder against Will’s, “Well are you going to give me a beer and a tour?”

“Fine,” Dex huffed, a small smiling pulling at his mouth, “So bossy.”

“You know this,”  he accepted the beer Dex handed him, “Glad to see you’ve grown up from PBR and Natty Ice.”

“Dude, _you love PRB_. You sent me a Snapchat of you and Shitty drinking it last week,” Dex laughed, leading Derek through the house. It was bigger than Derek expected, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a study that Derek was sure would become a workshop, the kitchen was cozy but with plenty of counter space, and the living room felt lived in.

Derek ran a hand over a bookshelf, “Summer project?”

“Uh, I think a few years ago, yeah,” Dex ran a hand through his hair and shifted from one foot to the other, “Want to watch the Sox game?”

“Pft, you know the Sox suck,” Derek was already making himself comfortable on the couch, “Like who’s even on your team anymore? I feel like I saw that you guys signed Bartolo Colon even though he’s literally 53 years old.”

“Oh fuck you, the Mets suck.”

Derek shrugged, “That’s true.”

An hour later Derek bro-hugged Dex bye on his porch before heading back to his apartment, “I’ve got a good feeling about this year, Poindexter.”

“Yeah, me too,” Dex’s smile was soft, “Sorry I didn’t tell you I was back.”

“You can spend the next few months making it up to me, don’t worry,” Derek extended his fist and Dex bumped it with the roll of his eyes.

“Night Nursey.”

\---

“What do you mean we aren’t qualified to babysit,” Derek had dubbed himself the designated fun uncle and he thought he would be a great babysitter, “I’m great with kids!”

“No honey, I said _you’re_ not watching my kid, Dex can any time,” Bitty pat Derek on the arm, “I love you, but the last time I left you alone with Leah you thought that it was okay to feed my sweet daughter frozen fish sticks.”

“Why were they in the freezer if not for eating,” Derek whined, leaning his forehead against Dex’s shoulder, like Dex could protect him from the wrath of Bitty.

“Holster brought them over when he was house sitting last year,” Bitty sighed, “Will you two just leave me alone with my rhubarb so I can make y’all some pie.”

“Fine,” Derek grabbed Dex’s wrist and pulled him out to the patio where Jack was playing ball hockey with Leah.

Dex leaned against the deck railing, “I can’t believe the semester starts tomorrow.”

“I can’t believe it’s been fifteen years since we were frogs,” Derek laughed, taking a sip his sweet tea, “I can’t believe we’re both here now.”

“I’m glad,” Will grinned, loose and free, “It wouldn’t be Samwell without you’re annoying ass.”

“My ass is beautiful and you know it,” Derek grinned at him and found Will grinning back, “Don’t deny it Poindexter.”

Will made a show of leaning back to look at Derek’s (objectively great) ass, “It’s not bad, I think you’ve lost some of your muscles since taking a cushy desk job though.”

“Rude,” but Derek laughed, “I’m glad you’re here too.”

This time Dex’s smile was smaller, more private, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you missed me Nursey.”

“‘course I missed you,” Derek made his voice light, relaxed his shoulders, “Life would be boring without you.”

“Softie.”

Yeah, maybe Derek was a little soft when it came to Will Poindexter.

The semester was a whirlwind, between classes, office hours, and his own writing, Derek felt like there weren’t enough hours in the day, but he made it work. He was happier than he had been in a long time, eating dinner with the Bittle-Zimmermann family at least twice a week, watching baseball with Dex while they ate Dex’s surprisingly good cooking, and hanging out with Rhea, one of his old English major friends who worked in the marketing department now.

“Want to go to trivia tonight at Grady’s” Rhea popped a fry into her mouth, “Or are you hanging out with the _boyfriend_.”

“First of all Dex isn’t my boyfriend, you know that dude,” Derek ran a hand through his hair and stole one of her fries, “And second, you know Dex and I have standing plans on Thursday nights until the season starts.”

“Thursdays are date nights,” Rhea slapped his hand as he reached for another fly, “You guys have been dating since the day you moved back. You can stop denying it for my sake.”

“I - we aren’t,” Derek dropped his head into his hands, “It’s not like that for Will.”

“But it is for you.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m just saying, you’ve been pining for over a decade,” Rhea flicked him. She was the worst.

“Why am I friends with you?” He grumbled, head still in his hands, “Leave me here to die alone and pitiful.”

“You can’t die, we’ve got a Fortnight date tonight,” Dex’s voice was a bit of a surprise, he usually didn’t join them for lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays because there was practice, “And it would be kind of pathetic if a 32 year old man played alone.”

“Don’t let half the male population hear you say that,” Rhea laughed. Derek looked up in time to see her get up, “I’ve got a meeting with student life. Wish me luck.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Dex didn’t sound particularly sorry as he sat down and pulled out his lunch, a _salad_ with grilled chicken, a protein bar, and an orange, the healthy fuck.

“Nah, she was being mean anyway,” Derek laughed, “No practice today?”

“Jack let me head out early, they’re getting their uniforms today and Ellie can handle that without us,” Dex took a bite of the salad, “Figured I’d come bother you before heading home.”

“Oh you know you could never bother me,” Nursey winked, enjoying the way Dex still flushed when he did that, “Are you going to Bitty and Jack’s for dinner tomorrow?”

“It’s fried chicken night,” Dex took another bite of his salad, “Of course I’m going.”

“I still can’t believe that Jack allows fried chicken in his house,” Derek laughed, “He’s really growing, isn’t he?”

“If you think Jack’s been in control of what gets cooked in his kitchen since the day Bitty and him got married, you’re on something,” Dex kicked him gently under the table, “Hey, would you mind if we skipped video games tonight?’

Derek’s stomach dropped, it was probably nothing, Dex probably didn’t have a date, “Sure dude, I can tag along with Rhea for trivia.”

“Oh,” Dex frowned, “I - sure if you want.”

“I mean, since you want to cancel,” Derek added quickly.

“No, I didn’t want to skip hanging out, I wanted to,” Dex took a deep breathe, “I got tickets to the Schooners and Falcs game tonight, I wanted to go. With you.”

“Oh, yeah bro, that would be awesome,” Derek grinned, “Do you need some emotional support since it’s the first game you’re going to since retiring?”

Will offered him a sad smile, “Maybe.”

“I got you dude,” Derek squeezed Dex’s hand quickly, enjoying the blush that spread across his cheeks. He was so totally and completely fucked.

\----

When Will said he got tickets for the game tonight, he _meant_ , he got a fucking suite. Derek accepted the _free_ beer that came with the suite and sat down in the incredibly comfy chair, kicking his feet up.

“You went all out for this,” Derek grinned, resting his head on Will’s shoulder, “Treating me all nice with free beers and comfy seats.”

“I -” Dex laughed shakily.

“Or is it because you wanted some privacy when you get all emotional because you aren’t out there destroying the competition.”

“I definitely wanted some privacy,” Will grinned, hesitating for a second before he reached out and took Derek’s hand, “But not because I was worried about being emotional over not playing anymore. I retired because I wanted to be able to walk into my fifties and because I wanted to live my life after professional hockey.”

“What’s that life look like?” Derek’s voice cracked at the end and Will huffed out a laugh, “Shut up.”

“It looks like this,” Dex squeezed Derek’s hand, “If you’d - if you’re into that.”

Derek looked around, they were pretty well hidden in their box so he leaned forward, “I’m pretty fucking in to it.”

Will’s smile was fucking beautiful and Derek was incredibly happy that he always wore his fake tooth, “So, want to give this a shot?”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Derek laughed then nodded toward the camera that was swinging around, showing fans on the jumbotron before the game, “But maybe not until after the game.”

“Maybe that’s a good idea,” Dex didn’t let go of Derek’s hand though.

The Schooner’s won and Dex smiled the whole ride back, though that might have been because they met up with a couple of Dex’s old buddies from the team for a drink after the game. It _also_ might have been because Derek kissed him when they got back to the car in a mostly deserted parking lot. It was definitely the best first kiss Derek had ever had and based on the way Dex had kissed back, it was probably pretty good for him too.

Derek couldn’t stop smiling either. He _knew_ it was because he had kissed Dex after almost _fifteen_ years of build up and somehow it hadn’t been a letdown. If anything, it had been better than he’d imagined. It was also because Kip and Lawzy had smirked at Dex when they’d walked in and asked if this was the _famous_ Nursey they’d heard so much about.

“So, not to be too forward,” Derek said as Dex pulled into his driveway, “But I’d like to come in.”

“If I didn’t want you coming in, I would have dropped you off at your apartment,” Will laughed as he got out of the car. Derek laughed too, because he could, because it felt good to laugh, because Dex was looking at him like he was the biggest idiot in the world, but he loved him anyway.

“Fair point,” Derek followed Will into the house and it felt like home.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](exhuastedpigeon.tumblr.com)


End file.
